Fire Officer

The Wellbeing Services County of Ostrobothnia is recruiting a fire officer for its rescue operations area, with an initial placement in Laihia. The Wellbeing Services County of Ostrobothnia aims to have Finland’s best employees. We want to invest in staff wellbeing, adequate staffing, good leadership and smooth processes. One of our values is to act from person to person. More than 8,000 professionals from different fields work in our wellbeing services county, providing residents of Ostrobothnia with high-quality and safe social and healthcare services and rescue services. The rescue department of the Wellbeing Services County of Ostrobothnia offers a supportive, forward-looking work community. We actively participate in nationwide cooperation in the rescue sector. As an employer, we enable further training and support the development of personal competence. We encourage you to develop the rescue department according to your competence and interests. The fire officer leads the personnel of designated stations and serves as the immediate supervisor for permanent and contract staff at those stations. The position may include on-call duty and/or working hours under an exemption permit. As fire officer, you are responsible for leading operational activities as a group leader, incident-ground commander or rescue operations commander in accordance with the rescue department’s current instructions. You are responsible for the safe and effective implementation of rescue operations and for guiding and developing personnel. Duties include planning operations, arranging training and exercises (including in the evenings), inducting personnel and developing their competence, supervising the use of equipment and gear, participating in accident prevention work and safety communications, separately defined areas of responsibility, and other duties assigned by the supervisor. The fire officer works under the station master and, when needed, deputises for the station master or another supervisor. Good teamwork skills, initiative, planning, willingness to develop and a positive attitude towards the work help ensure effective performance. Good IT skills are also needed. Further training in the rescue sector is considered an advantage. Relevant basic, additional and continuing education, as well as previous experience as a fire officer, are considered advantages. Good oral and written presentation skills and public-speaking ability are also advantageous. The pay and working hours of the fire officer are determined under the personnel collective agreement, and pension benefits under the public-sector pension act. General working time is 38.25 hours per week. A six-month probationary period may be applied. If needed, the selected person must provide an acceptable statement of health before the appointment is confirmed. With the selected person’s consent, a limited security clearance will also be conducted under the Security Clearance Act (726/2014); an unobstructed result is a condition of employment. The placement is within the rescue department’s area, with Laihia as the initial placement location. Eligibility requirement: Government Decree on Rescue Services 407/2011, section 6, point 2. Satisfactory spoken and written skills in both national languages of Finland. Other eligibility requirements: Fitness for smoke diving and demanding duties, FireFit fitness level 3.0. At least a category BC driving licence.